The 20-year-old pop star has suffered much heartbreak recently - her mum Lynne and dad Jamie are said to have split, while her relationship with 'N Sync singer Justin Timberlake is over.

But while Bryan, 24, prefers to avoid publicity and the showbiz glitz which surrounds his little sister, he insists that they're really close. Britney often calls her gym instructor sibling to check how he's doing, and stays in the New York apartment she bought him whenever she's in the city.

Bryan says, "Britney is my best friend. Mum, dad and I are so proud of her and everything that she's achieved."

The singer's eaterie in Manhattan's Dylan Hotel has had a run of bad luck since it opened last month.

The opening night was a disaster - fans queued for hours in the torrential rain to see Britney, who was running late and then made a reportedly unappreciative appearance. And promised A-list stars such as Whitney Houston, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston failed to appear.

Just a week later, three Columbia University students claimed they suffered from food poisoning after eating there.

Now diners at the restaurant will be treated to the sounds of amateur crooners, though it is not known whether patrons will be allowed to cover the starlet's hits. 

The point of such questions, of course, is that they're being asked. True, Spears' profile at radio and on MTV has dipped. Her album sales are off substantially from the GNP-sized tallies of two years ago. The whole industry that turned puppy love into dance-pop is in the doldrums.

Teen pop "has cooled off," says Geoff Mayfield, director of sales charts at the record trade magazine Billboard. Even the members of 'N Sync, the most successful group of the genre, seem prepared to find new jobs. Joey Fatone is acting in movies. Lance Bass has announced his intention to train for a space-shuttle mission -- as if leaving Earth would give him a fresh start.

Spears, an aging pop star by teen standards, is far from gone. She keeps the tabloids curious. At 20, she is easing into movies, with one limpid drama, Crossroads, to date and a stock-car movie of some sort in the offing thanks to a media deal with NASCAR. She is still Pepsi's girl, not to mention a restaurant owner, and she had great fun at her own expense hosting Saturday Night Live -- her second time -- in February.

Add the low-key persistence of Britney, her coming-of-age-themed third album, on Billboard charts and the steady success of her 2002 tour, and predictions of a quick exit become wishful thinking. She has lasted three years in a trade that measures progress by the week, and Forbes recently named her the new No. 1 in its annual ranking of the 100 most powerful celebrities. Even Madonna, Spears' oft-cited role model, wears a Britney T-shirt in public.

"I think [Spears] has done a great job of keeping her senses about her," says Mayfield. "She doesn't mind some of the backbiting and teasing about her. She's capitalizing on it."

And she is doing so in a less hospitable climate. Two years ago, radio started backing away from what Airplay Monitor Editor in Chief Sean Ross calls "kids making music for kids." Out went airplay-dependent heartthrobs such as 98 Degrees, LFO, Aaron Carter and ATeens (the latter just canceled a show in South Florida). Album sales followed suit. And a new breed emerged to fill the vacuum: the teen singer-songwriter, a creature not trained at pop-star farms such as Disney's Mickey Mouse Club or the studio run by svengali Lou Pearlman, but wise in the ways of the candy-coated hook and as media-friendly as a Britney. These new, self-manufactured starlets include Lindsay Pagano, Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton.

During the teen-market shake-up, however, new records by the old hands still commanded attention. Britney, released in November, sold more than 700,000 copies in its first week, a drop-off from the previous disc, Oops! ... I Did It Again, but still one of the biggest opening frames ever.

There are also indications that teen-pop might spawn a second wave. One entrant, boy group B2K, has its self-titled debut on pace to sell more than 500,000 copies. The quintet has joined with kid rapper Bow Wow, who recently dropped the diminutive "Lil" from his stage name, on a nationwide tour that visits 20,000-seat AmericanAirlines Arena in September.

Other would-be contenders now step into an entrenched teen-market infrastructure. It stretches from shopping-mall tours with corporate sponsors to the Nickelodeon network's Nick Video Pick to Teen People magazine, and it searches constantly for new teen properties.

"There's always going to be a niche that you can hit with kids," says Mayfield.

The Spears tour continues to soak up their disposable income, grossing $18.9 million in ticket sales from January through June to become one of the year's biggest, according to concert trade magazine Pollstar.

"She is not on the down-slope," says Pollstar editor-in-chief Gary Bongiovanni. He adds that it's too early to say whether she will carry an audience into adulthood.

"The problem with the teen-oriented music of all eras," says Billboard's Mayfield, "is when kids hit puberty they tend to shed what they liked last week. That happened with New Kids on the Block. It happened with Kris Kross. It happened with Vanilla Ice. And if you look deeper into music history, that probably happened to a lot of others as well."

Spears is attacking that problem in two ways. One, as suggested by her recent single, I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman, is to make growing up part of the program. The other is to diversify -- into film, advertising and other ventures that could move her away from music but keep her in entertainment.

If these gambits don't work, don't feel too bad for Spears and her ilk.

"Even if all of them fall on their faces tomorrow," says Mayfield, "they've had a longer run than most."

She recalls, "I had on a flight suit that my dancers were supposed to pull off me. There I was, in front of thousands of people and they were pulling and tugging on me - and it wouldn't come off.

"If that wasn't bad enough, later that same show, I slipped on a cupcake that someone had thrown onstage."  

``If they're going to hide behind their clients, their client is going to have to be deposed,'' said David Rosenthal, attorney for the Giving Back Fund.

The fund, which manages celeb foundations under one umbrella, is suing Spears' former New York lawyer, Mark Steverson, for $16 million.

The suit claims Steverson, who became a member of GBF's board of directors, convinced Spears and her then-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, to abandon the fund when his bid to seize control of the operation failed.

The loss of Spears cost the fund millions in donations, Rosenthal argued yesterday.

``The woman is an icon. She is the No. 1 celebrity in the world,'' Rosenthal told U. S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel.

``She is?'' Zobel asked incredulously.

Barry Brett, an attorney for Steverson, asked Zobel to throw out the lawsuit.

He argued Steverson did not breach his ``fiduciary'' duties to the board when he advised Spears and Timberlake to take their money elsewhere.

The stars' relationship with the fund apparently soured when GBF founder Marc Pollick balked at Steverson's demand that the fund hire a family friend of Spears, former New York police officer John McMahon, as a fund-raiser earning $4,000 a month.

``Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake decided this wasn't the way they wanted to go,'' Brett said yesterday.

Pollick said he has a duty to his organization to hire only experienced fund-raisers and McMahon was unqualified.

The judge did not immediately rule on the motion to dismiss. 

BILLBOARD 200 HISTORY: Britney
week (35) ending 07.13.02 #98
week (34) ending 07.06.02 #104
week (33) ending 06.29.02 #94
week (32) ending 06.22.02 #98
week (31) ending 06.15.02 #85
-
week (05) ending 12.15.01 #4
week (04) ending 12.08.01 #5
week (03) ending 12.01.01 #3
week (02) ending 11.24.01 #2
week (01) ending 11.17.01 #1 (debut)
 

On Brit's off time, she also worked on some great new tunes for the next album. Britney loves getting in the studio when she doesn't have to worry about her schedule the next day. There just seems to be more creative juices when you're relaxed. 

We have a new member of the Spears family. She's a half-pound, 9 week old Pomeranian puppy. Her name is Izzy – short for Isabelle. She is a gift from Jamie (a.k.a. Daddy). Jamie Lynn has become so responsible! She definitely amazed me by tending to the pup's every need! Perhaps even more amazing is that, when we’re all out together, people actually notice this adorable pup instead of Britney! 

"I Love Rock and Roll" continues to stay strong around the world while "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" winds it way out of the charts. And "Britney" continues to fall down the charts at a slow pace.

"I Love Rock and Roll" on the single charts:
Sweden #15
Switzerland #15
Belgium #15
Australia #17
Finland #19
Austria #22
Netherlands #30
World #30
Germany #31
Italy #39

"I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" on the single charts:
Czechia #5
World #29

"Britney" on the album charts:
Belgium #25
France #32
Australia #38
Austria #52
Canada #65
Netherlands #65
Switzerland #99
 

Also tell us why you are such a big Britney fan! If you are over 25 and live in the United States or Canada, email us at fanographycasting@mtv.com. Please include your full name, age, hometown and phone number so we can contact you. 

For more information, visit MTV's casting call.  

Pepsi and Wal-Mart are holding your front row seat to see Britney Spears in an exclusive in-store concert on Wal-Mart TV and in-store radio this summer. On Saturday, July 27, at 7 p.m. local time, Wal-Mart TV will broadcast one hour of a Britney Spears concert from her sold out 2002 summer tour in more than 2,600 Wal-Mart stores around the country. The broadcast can be viewed by customers on any of Wal-Mart’s in-store televisions, or customers may listen to the concert in stores on Wal-Mart radio. Pepsi displays in Wal-Mart Action Alleys and banners in front of Wal-Mart stores will remind shoppers about the show. 

“Wal-Mart is excited to offer our customers an opportunity to view this concert,” said Bob Connolly, executive vice president of marketing for Wal-Mart. “We are always looking for ways to provide our customers with a unique shopping experience and this concert will enable many Britney Spears fans a chance to see one of her sold out performances.” 

“We’re thrilled to be working with Wal-Mart to give their shoppers a chance to see Britney in concert,” said Mike Dillon, director of customer marketing for Pepsi-Cola North America. “Britney brings unparalleled energy and excitement to each one of her shows. Now, through Wal-Mart TV, thousands of fans will have the chance to see her perform who otherwise might not have had the opportunity.”  

The Giving Back Fund is suing Mark Steverson, Spears' former lawyer, for $15 million.

The lawsuit claims that Steverson violated his duty as a member of the Giving Back Fund board of directors by advising Spears and 'N Sync ( news - web sites)'s Justin Timberlake to sever ties with the fund last year.

Neither Spears nor Timberlake are named as defendants.

Both singers had set up foundations under the umbrella of the Giving Back Fund, which manages celebrities' charitable foundations.

After a hearing in U.S. District Court Tuesday, a lawyer for Steverson said the lawsuit is without merit.

"Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake want to do some charitable things and they decided this (Giving Back Fund) wasn't the way they wanted to go," said attorney Barry Brett.

David Rosenthal, a lawyer for the Giving Back Fund, told Judge Rya Zobel that losing Spears was a severe setback.

"The woman is an icon. She is the No. 1 celebrity in the world. There is a huge benefit to being associated with her," Rosenthal said.

The judge did not immediately rule on Brett's request to dismiss the lawsuit.